Bearish Belt Hold

What Is a Bearish Belt Hold?

A bearish belt hold is a candlestick pattern that forms during an upward trend. This is what happens in the pattern:

1. Following a stretch of bullish trades, a bearish or black candlestick occurs.
2. The opening price, which becomes the high for the day, is higher than the close of the previous day.
3. The stock price declines throughout the day, resulting in a long black candlestick with a short lower shadow and no upper shadow.

Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020

The bearish belt hold is not considered very reliable as it occurs frequently and is often incorrect in predicting future share prices.

Bearish Belt Hold Explained

A bearish belt hold is a pattern that often signals a reverse in investor sentiment from bullish to bearish. However, the bearish belt hold is not considered very reliable as it occurs frequently and is often incorrect in predicting future share prices. As with any other candlestick charting method, more than two days of trading should be considered when making predictions about trends.

Understanding a Bearish Belt Hold

Bearish belt holds are relatively easy to spot but must be confirmed — that is, looking at periods that extend beyond the day period. Candlesticks from previous days should be in a clear uptrend, confirming that sentiment has changed. To help affirm the validity of the signal, it’s important that the candlestick is long, as well, the next session’s candlestick should also be bearish.

Bearish Belt Hold Example

Source: Finviz.

T-Mobile’s stock saw an uptrend for the last part of 2018 and early 2019. That bullish streak was ended with a bearish belt hold at the start of the year. The control of T-Mobile’s stock by the bulls was brought to heel with a bearish candlestick. The candlestick proved to be a bearish belt hold with virtually no upper shadow and a short lower shadow. The addition of another red (downward) candle suggest a downtrend could be in the works.